Marshall Can't Keep Pace with Centreville

The Marshall girls basketball team is young and on the smallish side, so when faced with an experienced, big opponent, the Statesmen tend to struggle.

Such was the case Tuesday night, when Centreville proved to have too much firepower in a 62-42 triumph over the Statesmen.

"We have a young team and it takes them a while to believe that they can play the game," Marshall Coach Noel Klippenstein said. "It's taken us a while each game to get started. Then we have some hot minutes, and then we fade."

The Wildcats opened the game with a 10-0 run and then used a 20-0 burst over the third and fourth quarters to put away the pesky Statesmen (2-2), who don't have a senior on their roster.

Centreville's quick start put Marshall off-balance for the rest of the night and it proved to be the beginning of a huge game for the Wildcats' Erin Meador.

Meador scored eight straight points early on as Centreville opened up a 16-7 first-quarter lead and rolled from there. Meador finished with 28 points in a dominating performance.

"Erin had a huge game," Wildcats Coach Wally Horton said. "She's one of our catalysts."

Centreville (4-1) used its size advantage in the second quarter to build the lead. With Meador at 5-foot-11, Taylor O'Hara at 5-10 and 6-foot-1 Kiran Ghuman coming off the bench, the Wildcats were able to deflect passes, bottle up the middle and wreak defensive havoc in building an 11-point halftime lead.

"We had a nice working lead at halftime, but as coaches we are never happy," Horton said. "We felt at halftime we could be doing a little better job on the defensive boards, so we addressed that."

In the third quarter, however, it was Marshall (2-2) that stepped up its efforts on defense, as the Statesmen were able to set their press after some made baskets.

Marshall closed the gap to 33-25 and had a couple of chances to narrow the margin even further, but Centreville kept answering until they could deliver the finishing blow.

After the Statesmen's Rachel Waldron hit a layup with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter, the Wildcats exploded for 20 straight points to put the game away. Waldron led Marshall with 12 points.

"Once we lose momentum, it's hard to get it back," Klippenstein said. "But they'll figure it out, because we had some nice plays."

During that run, Meador scored 11 points and was solid on defense as Centreville held Marshall without a basket for nearly six minutes.

"We played really well defensively and were able to get some steals," Meador said. "We usually go on runs and let them come back and then go on another run. We get into valleys but then we always get our energy back up."

Meador's 28 points was a season-high, but it was the points she didn't get that she was thinking about after the game.

"Last year I scored 31, which tied the school record," she said. "I wish I hadn't missed those free throws."

Even though her squad took the loss, Klippenstein felt taking on Centreville was a learning experience.

"It's a good warm-up game for us," she said. "We need it. It's a good experience for us."